Original Persian Text

Istanbul 1306 printing, couplets 1, 3 and 5 of ghazal 37; the full ghazal is not given in the source.

Be-mülk-i ʿaşḳ giriftem zi-şarḳ u ġarb ḫarāc
Şeh-i sipāh-ı ġamem nîst bākem ez-Leylāc
Berāy-ı taḫt-ı cihān-ı fenā çi fikr künem
Me-rā ki baḫt büved taḫt u fetḥ u nuṣret u tāc
Neyāyem süḫan-ı mîr bā-vezîr pesend
Zi-ḥîle gerçi nikū ḥarf mîzened be-ḫarāc

In English

1. I seized the realm of love and took tribute from East and West; I am the king of the army of grief and have no fear of Leylāc.

3. Why should I worry about the throne of this transient world; throne, crown, conquest and victory are my fortune.

5. The words of the lord and the vizier do not please me, however fair the words they utter outwardly with guile.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

These three couplets are the first, third and fifth couplets of ghazal 37 in the Istanbul 1306 printing. Seda Aydın quotes this couplet in her article showing how Selîmî combines the identity of the sultan with that of the lover in his Persian ghazals, giving the first and fifth under the material emblems of sovereignty and the third under verbs of war. The rhyme is formed by "-āc" in "ḫarāc, Leylāc, tāc"; there is no redif (refrain word). In the fifth couplet the rhyme word is printed as "ḫarāc", but Aydın translates the line as "although they utter fair words outwardly with guile". The source does not explain whom the name Leylāc refers to. Selîmî's life, his Persian divan and the debate over his Turkish poems are discussed in detail in Yavuz Sultan Selim (Selîmî) and his poems.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet, like that of ghazal 31, describes love as a reign. Love is a realm, and the poet takes tribute from its East and West; grief is his army. In the third couplet the word "taḫt" (throne) occurs twice; the throne of the transient world is belittled, yet in the same line throne, crown, conquest and victory are counted as the poet's fortune. This list gathers the words Aydın calls emblems of sovereignty. In the fifth couplet the lord (mîr) and the vizier are scorned for their sweet, guileful words. Latîfî writes that in judgement and insight no one could be a vizier to Selim but his own sound opinion. Aydın also records that he was known for changing viziers and that this trait passed from mouth to mouth in the couplet "Rakîbin ölmesine çâre yokdur / Vezîr ola meğer Sultân Selîm'e" (There is no way for the rival to die, unless he becomes Sultan Selim's vizier). The couplet voices this distrust in the sultan's own words; the connection is our interpretation.

Bibliography

Online sources